Ophthalmologist Receives Award for Eye Research

Todd Margolis

Todd P. Margolis, MD, PhD, professor of ophthalmology at the UCSF School of Medicine, has been granted a $65,000 Senior Scientific Investigator Award by Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB), the world's leading voluntary organization supporting eye research. The RPB grant will help to fund Margolis' research into the regulation of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection and, ultimately, improved treatment and management for patients with HSV eye disease. RPB Senior Scientific Investigator Awards support nationally recognized senior scientists conducting eye research at medical institutions in the United States. Margolis is one of 133 scientists at 53 institutions so honored since the award was established in 1987. HSV infection in the eye can be chronic, painful, blinding and difficult to manage. HSV infection can remain latent (inactive) for long periods of time and can be reactivated fairly simply to continue its destructive course within the eye. Margolis' goals are to gain understanding about the regulation of HSV latent infection and to develop effective therapeutic interventions to eliminate latent infection and to prevent viral reactivation.

UCSF Professor of Ophthalmology Todd Margolis examines a patient.

Margolis joined the faculty at UCSF's department of ophthalmology and the Francis I. Proctor Foundation in 1991. He also serves as director of the Ralph and Sophie Heintz Research Lab at the Proctor Foundation. A 1977 graduate of Stanford University, Margolis received an MD and PhD from UCSF in 1984 and completed his residency in ophthalmology and a fellowship in infectious and inflammatory eye disease training at UCSF. He also did additional fellowship training and two years of postdoctoral research in viral pathogenesis at UCLA. In 1999, he was appointed director of the Proctor Foundation. Since it was founded in 1960, RPB has channeled hundreds of millions of dollars to medical institutions for research into the causes, treatment and prevention of blinding eye diseases. For information on RPB, RPB-funded research, eye disorders and the RPB Grants Program, go here. Source: Lisa Cisneros

Related Links

The Francis I. Proctor Foundation for Research in Ophthalmology